Abstract: Improved methods for manufacturing electrode active tapes, including blanks/plates with essential homogeneity for consistently more reliable performing electrodes for electrochemical cells, and with lower rates of off-specification material, by forming an electrode active mixture; adjusting the solids content to form a filter cake mix; crumbling the filter cake into particles and performing at least one calendering step at a calendering station having a nip zone while applying a force to the particles axially with the direction of movement of the particles to compact the particles in the nip zone for more even presentation during calendering.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to calendaring an electrode active admixture, such as of a transition metal oxide, and particularly silver vanadium oxide, into an electrode structure. To obtain electrode structures of a desired low basis weight requires calendaring a paste of the active material into a first sheet tape, which is subsequently subjected to secondary and ternary calendering steps. Secondary calendaring is performed in a direction reverse or orthogonal to that used to form the initial sheet tape. The final calendaring step is performed in a third direction aligned 180° with respect to the first direction, but with the second structure rotated bottom over top with respect to the orientation that formed the first and second structures. The ternary calendaring step provides for fibrillation of the fluoro-polymeric binder in a direction reverse to the initial direction to form the product low basis weight electrode active structure.